Family Dilemma
by Ochie94
Summary: Yuri was only ten years old, but he already knew that sometimes the most perfect family was not perfect at all. And what's not perfect can be perfect for him and his little family. A story about young Yuri Plisetsky watched his father, who had been single again since 3 years ago, fell in love with a person who changed both his and his father's life.
1. Stranger

Title: **Family Dilemma**

Warning: Alternate Universe, family AU, Slow Build, Mention of past divorce, Single Parent Victor Nikiforov, Victor Nikiforov is not a skater in this, Victor is a Cook, Katsuki Yuuri is the 5 times gold medal winner, Yuuri and Phichit is the best bro ever, Yurio is Victor's son, Lot of PhichitSelfie

Rated: K+

Pairing: Victuuri, Victor X Yuuri

Summary: Yuri was only ten years old, but he already knew that sometimes the most perfect family was not perfect at all. And what's not perfect can be perfect for him and his little family. A story about young Yuri Plisetsky watched his father, who had been single again since 3 years ago, fell in love with a person who changed both his and his father's life.

 **Notes** : Yurio is not fluent in English.. Thus why the grammar error in his talk

 _Italic_ is for conversation in English..

This fiction is saved and beta'd by **PureRedCrane**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _ **Stranger**_

Yuri Plisetsky, a young boy in the tenth year of his long life, was aware that there was no such thing as perfection. Just few years ago, when he was only seven years old, his parents decided that it would be best for them to get a divorce. Since then, his single father had been trying his best to take care of him and as well as the restaurant.

He had learned the hard way how to take care of himself. While other children were supposed to be so affectionate and spoiled by his parents, Yuri had no such luxury, but he didn't mind. Back then, he thought that having no mother to take care of him would be bad, but when he compared himself to his fellow schoolmates, he somehow felt superior to them.

When his friend got scolded by their mother, he was partially glad that no one would nag him about doing whatever he wanted. He could do anything and no one at home would stop him.

His father was busy with restaurant most of the time, his grandfather was very patient when he visited the house and encouraged him to do what he wanted. Meanwhile, the house keeper his father hired to keep the house livable was too insensible to even scold him. So long as she got paid for cleaning the house and provided anything Yuri needed, which wasn't much since the young blond had learned to be independent and didn't want anyone to look down on him for not able doing something, the woman didn't care.

Besides, Yuri was a smart kid. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he should do without putting himself or his family in trouble.

And that was the reason why he was standing alone in front of the supermarket several blocks away from his home. His small hands were tucked into his black thick coat as his emerald eyes skimmed over people walking passed him without giving him a single glance. Small feet clad in black boots tapped the freezing concrete impatiently.

A frown had formed in his face since minutes ago and it didn't show any sign of leaving until a warm black knitted glove made contact with his coat. The blond haired boy looked up with expectation, only to scowl when he was met with unfamiliar face. The stranger frowned with a hint of worry.

 _"Why are you alone?"_ Yuri heard the man ask in a different language. He recognized it as English, the language which he learned from his mother before the divorce.

It had been a while since the last time he talked in English. He was in Russia and most people spoke in Russian, not English obviously, thus why he was sure whether his not-that-proper English was latched by thick Russian accent. _"I waiting my grandfather."_

Taking in his answer, the man asked again, a look of relief seemed to lift the frown from his face. _"Where is your grandfather?"_

 _"He leave his money at home. So he go back home to get it."_ The foreign language rolled uncomfortably from his mouth, making the boy fidgeting under the still worried stare of the stranger.

As if noticing it, the stranger patted his head gently and beamed a smile at Yuri. _"I see. Do you mind…Ah...I will wait for your grandfather with you."_

Yuri watched as the man moved to stand beside him. Silently, he looked at the stranger, assessing the man's appearance. The relatively young man didn't look like people in Russia. His face looked different compared to the people walking passed them. The man wore black from head to toe. He had short black hair and dark rimmed glasses covering his equally dark eyes. His long coat was also in black and so were his pants and shoes. 'He look like the bad guy in movie.' Yuri mused to himself before looking down at his own appearance. All black. Same.

 _"What does your grandfather look like?"_

The voice halted Yuri's wandering thoughts and made him looked at the man, confused. 'What did he say? I didn't listen to him.'

The man blinked at him, expecting an answer before repeating his question when the boy didn't respond. _"What's your grandfather look like?"_

This time, the boy's eyes lit with understanding. He brought his hand to his mouth as if thinking. " _Grandfather have._..umm what is beard in English?" he asked himself as his small hands hovered over his mouth and cheek.

The man smiled a little as the boy beside him struggled to bring the words out. Crouching and bending down a bit until their eyes were on the same level, he helped a little as he knew what the boy meant. " _Facial hair? Moustache? Beard?_ "

At the mention of hair, the blond nodded with a bright smile as if he could answer the hardest question ever. _"Yes. That. Yes. Hair!"_ the boy exclaimed aloud as he continued the description of his grandfather. _"The hair…They are gray. Grandfather wear hat and he is big...Tall..."_ Yuri raised his hands up high to show how tall his grandfather was, but of course his hand couldn't even reach the actual height. So, he looked around to point at someone whose height was almost the same as his grandfather's. Then his eyes brightened even more when he saw a familiar hat peeking from behind the crowds.

"Dedushka!" he shouted and ran towards the familiar approaching figure of his grandfather with wide smile, completely forgetting about the stranger.

"Dedushka. It took you long." the boy complained as his hand reached out to grab the bigger hand.

His grandfather only laughed at the pout on Yuri's face. "Sorry, Yuratchka. I forgot where I placed the wallet, that's why it took so long for me to be back here."

Accepting the reason, the young boy urged the elder to start their shopping for pirozhki before he remembered the stranger in black.

 _"Yuuri!"_

Turning around when he heard the call, wondering who was calling him, Yuri saw a dark skinned man walking in their direction while waving his hand high.

Frowning at the unfamiliar man, Yuri and his grandfather watched the man slowing his pace and stopped in front of the stranger from earlier. " _Yuuri! Where have you been? We were looking for you. Everyone almost got a heart attack when you suddenly disappeared._ "

Blinking in confusion, Yuri approached the two men while dragging his grandfather with him once he remembered what he was going to do. "Dedushka! Meet him!"

Both men looked at them when Yuri walked towards them, and the stranger with glasses looked at him softly. " _Is that your Grandfather?_ "

Stopping before him, Yuri nodded. " _Yes. This is my_ dedushka - _grandfather_ -."

"Yuratchka? Who is this man?" his grandfather asked in confusion, partially wondering why his grandson seemed attached to the stranger when he usually barely cared about people around him besides his family.

"Dedushka, he stayed with me when I was waiting for you. He..." Yuri trailed off when he realized he didn't know the man's name at all. Turning to the kind stranger, he asked. _"What's your name?"_

Chuckling at the sheepish attitude of the boy, the man thought that the boy might actually be embarrassed for not asking this sooner. " _My name is Yuuri. Katsuki Yuuri._ "

.

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to be continued


	2. Unexpected Rendezvous

Thanks a lot for every Follows, Favorites and Reviews! ^^ Here's the next chapter!

Notes: There will be '*' sign. You can check note at the end for explanation.

 _Italic for conversation in English_

 _Beta'ed by **PureRedCrane**_

* * *

 _Previously..._

 _"Dedushka. He stayed with me when I was waiting for you. He..." Yuri trailed off when he realized he didn't know the man's name at all. Turning to the kind stranger he asked._ "What's your name?"

 _Chuckling at the sheepish attitude of the boy, the man thought that the boy might be actually embarrassed for not asking this sooner._ "My name is Yuuri. Katsuki Yuuri."

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2**_

 _ **Unexpected Rendezvous**_

 _"And my name is Phichit Chulanont!"_ The other young man with caramel skin chimed in with huge bright smile adorning his face.

 _"Hey...Phichit...You're scaring him."_ Yuuri said as he caught the other's arm.

 _"Eh? Is that so?"_ Phichit looked at the Russian boy before them, whose eyes widened at the two men. _"Eeehh...Sorry, sorry."_ he said, putting his hands together in front of his face as he crouched down so he could see straight into the boy's eyes.

The boy nodded slowly, unsure. _"It's...okay..."_ he said to Phichit before darting his blue eyes back to the man with glasses, _"Uuh...Your name..."_

 _"Hmm?"_ The man looked at him with a soft gentle smile, bending a little bit. _"Yuuri. My name is Yuuri."_

 _"Yuri*...?"_ the boy repeated.

 _"Yes. Yuuri."_ Yuuri nodded, his dark brown eyes carefully watching the boy's confused expression. _"What about you? What's your name?"_ The boy blinked at the man before grinning.

 _"My name Yuri too!"_ His small hands clenched into tiny fists as he waved them excitedly. Turning to face his grandfather, the boy relayed the talk to him. "Dedushka! This man's name is Yuri too! We has same name!" The oldest man of the group laughed.

"Is that so, Yuratchka? What a coincidence." Nodding knowingly, the bearded man looked at the tourist and extended his hand towards the man who shared the same name as his grandson. _"Mr. Yuri? I'm Nikolay Plisetsky. N-Nice to meet you."_ Nikolay stuttered his words a bit, not sure if he said the right thing or not. But judging from Yuuri's response, Nikolay knew he said the right thing.

 _"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Nikolay."_ Yuuri said as he stood up straight, taking Nikolay's hand and giving it a firm confident shake.

 _"Hey...Don't forget me..."_ There came Phichit's whine. The dark skinned man was still crouching in front of the Russian boy, his finger poking the cold concrete beneath them as the three others were busy with their own introductions. A soft laugh came from Yuuri. He politely let go of Nikolay's hand and patted his friend's shoulder.

 _"Sorry Phichit. We didn't forget about you."_ Yuuri said to Phichit, who pursed his lips, sulking at being ignored.

Phichit seemed to want to say something, but one small outstretched hand slipped into his vision and made him look at the hand's owner. His gaze was rotating from the boy to the hand then back to the boy again, sending a question through his confused gaze.

 _"Yuri! I'm Yuri!"_ the boy said rather loudly. His voice gained the outsiders' attention, who stopped short before ignoring them and going back to their own business. There was a small scowl on the boy's cute face as he waited for the sulking man to take his hand.

Phichit was taken aback and he might not have responded if not for Yuuri patting his shoulder again and calling his name.

 _"Ah? Ah yes. Nice to meet you...Nice to meet you, Yuri!"_ Phichit said. _"I'm Phichit Chulanont. You can call me Phichit. Phi-chit."_

Phichit looked eager to make Yuri call his name. It was as if the boy was a baby and he was the father of the baby, who was about to say his first word. The three adult listened to Yuri try to call the name. The boy struggled a bit at the foreign name, but then the name rolled smoothly from his lips when he actually said it.

 _"Yes. Phichit!"_ The owner of the name looked joyful as he leaped high with his hands up. Two stunned Russians stared at Phichit, who took out his phone and typed something on the device. It was Yuuri who took their attention away from him.

 _"Sorry about that. Phichit has always been...easily excited."_ the young man said to them with an awkward smile on his face. Yuri looked back at Phichita and then at Yuuri before sharing a glance with his grandfather. The two held their gaze for a while before sending laughter into the air.

 _"...Eh?"_ Yuuri blinked his eyes, confused at the sudden laughter from the two. _"What?"_

 _"Eh? What are you laughing about?"_ Phichit looked away from his phone to stare at the two laughing Russian, and then he looked at his friend, who shared his confusion. Both foreigners waited and stared with eyes wide due to unexplainable confusion as the pair of grandfather and grandson laughed at their own secret joke.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh like that." Nikolay said, failing to realize that he said this in Russian and both black haired young men didn't understand it.

 _"Uuh..."_ Yuuri grunted, his hand reaching the back of his head as he looked back at Phichit, who shrugged his shoulders, showing his nonexistent ability of understanding the language.

It was the young Yuri who finally explained after he could put his laugh down. _"Sorry...Phichit...He is like...my father..."_ the boy said while stifling his soft laugh.

 _"Father?"_ Phichit repeated the supposedly familiar word of English dumbly as if the word was a complete stranger to him. Yuuri looked at his best friend from head to toe, trying to solve the mystery of Yuri's word before giving up and looking at Yuri for an explanation. _"What do you mean, Yuri?"_

 _"Years ago, when I was still a small baby...Grandfather often recorded videos of me..."_ Yuri started with his hands posed as if holding a camera, _"And in that video, father was very happy when I said my first word. I said papa that time, then he started sending messages and called his friends."_ His small hands were now raised in the air, trying to portray the excitement his father had showed in the video he saw.

 _"Ooh...I see. Well, Phichit sure looks excited as well."_ Yuuri said, looking at the other man with a grin on his gentle face. Both Yuuri and Yuri exchanged a smile before a groan came from Phichit, making the three looking at him.

 _"What's wrong, Phichit?"_ Yuuri asked worriedly when he saw the upset expression on the usually extra cheerful friend.

 _"I'm hungry..."_ Phichit answered, his hands placed on his stomach to emphasize the hunger he felt. _"Let's go find the others and go to the restaurant Georgi recommended."_ Nodding his agreement, Yuuri told Phichit to ask the other how they would tell the Russians about them leaving. Smiling a bit awkwardly at Phichit's expression, the glasses wearing man turned to face Yuri and Nikolay.

 _"Well, we have to go now."_ he said, reaching out his hand to pat the blond head.

 _"Ehh? You go now? Why?"_ Nikolay's eyes widened when he heard what his grandson said.

"Hey...Yuratchka. He has a place to go. You can't hold him back." he said, reprimanding the boy, who was now pouting.

"But..." Yuri's bluish green eyes flickered to his grandfather before meeting the gentle and understanding brown eyes hiding behind glasses. _"Okay...Goodbye."_ Smiling, Yuuri resumed patting the fluffy bright colored hair.

 _"It's nice to meet you, Yuri. And Mr. Nikolay too."_ he uttered, looking at the grandfather with soft smile. Nikolay laughed softly with his hand resting on Yuri's small shoulder.

 _"It's nice to meet you too. And...thank you for...staying with Yuri..."_ He seemed to want to say more, yet the limited English hindered him from doing so.

 _"It's no problem. Yuri is a good kid."_ Yuuri responded with a smile, seemingly able to understand what the grandfather wanted to say. Turning a bit, he called his friend, who was still on his phone. _"Phichit. You have to say bye too."_

 _"Oh...Okay."_ Looking up from his phone, Phichit approached them with a strained smile. _"Well, I sent message on our group chat. All of them have seen it, but no one's replied yet."_ He waved his green cased phone, informing Yuuri about the chat before squatting in front of the little boy again.

 _"Yuri. It's sad that we have to part. But let's cherish this small moment and keep it in our memories."_ He started while fiddling with his phone a bit. _"Let's take a selfie together."_ Phichit grinned at the boy before standing up and held both of his hands out toward the boy. _"Here, I will hold you in my arms, and then let's take a selfie of four of us."_ The boy easily agreed, and he raised his arms toward the chocolate skinned man.

 _"Okay!"_ His cheerful answer made Phichit immediately swoop the boy into his arms. Out of nowhere, a black selfie stick had attached to his smartphone and Phichit already sought a good angle for the selfie. _"Hey! Yuuri! Come here. Let's take a selfie."_ he called while still moving his selfie stick to different angles, the boy in his arm waved his hand to get some attention from the glasses wearing man who had had his phone out after Phichit told him about the group chat. Nikolay chuckled at their excitement.

 _"Mila is typing."_ Yuuri informed, walking towards them as his gaze still attached to the phone's screen.

 _"Oh? Is that so?"_ Phichit replied uninterestedly, still tilting his selfie stick. _"Oh! I got it! Yuuri come here! Mr. Nikolay, please stand closer to us."_

Reluctantly, Yuuri walked into the space as he stood beside Phichit. Nikolay stood close to the grinning Yuri, who had his hands cutely making 'V' signs.

 _"Okay. Smile..."_ Phichit said while clicking the button. The 5 seconds timer started, giving the four time to adjust their pose. Two small ringtones caught Yuuri's attention at the same time when the timer started.

 _"Mila has replied."_ he said, looking at his phone again.

 _"Hey hey, Yuuri! Not now..."_ Phichit's eyes blew open when Yuuri checked his phone again. He knew that the message probably was from Mila since his phone chimed too, but they were only 3 seconds away from the photo captured. Oh no, 2 seconds. Yuuri!

 _"Mila says that they are already in restaurant and we have to go there by ourselves. She even sent a photo stating that they already started eating."_ Yuuri said with a frown.

 _"What?!"_ Phichit turned his head to look at the Yuuri's screen.

 _*ring*_

 _"E-Eeh?!"_ The sound brought Phichit's attention back to his phone which had mercilessly took their photo of unready state. Without putting the blond boy down, Phichit took his phone and checked their photo. Yuuri was palming his face as he raised up his other hand to show his phone at Phichit, who had wide eyes and mouth opened, shocked at what was displayed on Yuuri's smartphone. Yuri was able to maintain his pose and was even grinning widely, Nikolay looked at both young men worriedly.

Staring at the photo taken, Phichit sighed, muttering about how he would still keep it and they could take another photo later. Opening his chat app, he pouted at the pic from Mila and the group eating fancy looking meals. Georgi was looking proud with all the delicious looking foods and each member in their group had excited faces. It was as if he was the one who created all of it.

 _"So we just need to find this restaurant?"_ Phichit asked Yuuri for confirmation. Before the other man responded, Yuri cut in gleefully.

 _"I know this place."_ A wide proud grin, which somehow looked very much like Georgi, showed up on his childish face.

Yuuri looked at the blond haired boy, holing up his phone. _"You know this place, Yuri?"_

 _"Un!"_ Yuri nodded as he looked at the picture. "Dedushka! Look! Isn't it papa's restaurant?" he asked in Russian while pointing at the picture.

Curious, Nikolay moved closer to take a look when Phichit showed his phone to him. His eyes narrowed slightly to see the small detail behind the group. "Well...it does look like it. But I'm not sure. There could be other restaurants that have the same look."

"But look!" The boy whined, wanting to prove that he was right. "There is Makkachin here!" Phichit looked at the thing Yuri pointed at. On the end of the table was a taupe colored tissue box, which resembled a dog. Both Yuuri and Phichit watched as Nikolay's face grew contemplative before nodding.

"Well, I guess you're right. It could be your papa's restaurant."

Then another message filled in, this time it was from Georgi. _'I will show you the chef.'_ As soon as the message came, another pic showed up making Yuri shout.

"It's papa! Dedushka! Look! It's really papa!"

Both foreigners looked confused at them, only catching the word 'papa.' they looked back at their phones to see Georgi standing beside a white haired man, who was smiling widely. His white colored clothes told both of them that he was the chef.

"Right. You're right. It's really your papa." Nikolay said with a gentle smile adorning his face while patting the blond hair. "And I think you should explain it to these two foreigners."

Looking at Phichit and Yuuri, who seemed dumbfounded, the small boy said. _"This..."_ He pointed at the white haired chef. _"...is my father."_

Both Phichit and Yuuri looked at their respective phone, and then Phichit beamed at the boy. _"Cool! What a coincidence. I think we're fated to meet here."_

Yuuri sighed at his friend's antic. The glasses wearing man was about to type a reply to their group chat when he felt someone pull him backwards. _"Eeh?!"_

 _"Yuuri! Smile!"_ Phichit shouted. Yuuri looked up at the end of selfie stick to see that the timer had started again. With a dumbfounded look, he stared up at the device and stretched his lips into an awkward smile.

A small familiar ring sounded again from Phichit's phone and Yuuri let out a sigh as he stood straighter to check his phone again. Behind him, Yuuri could hear Phichit complaining about his smile, which he had learned to ignore after knowing the selfie addict for years.

Typing about that him and Phichit would come over soon, Yuuri dully listened to Russian words being exchanged between the young blond boy and the elder until he felt something colliding and latching onto his pants. Looking down, he saw Yuri grabbing onto his left leg. Seeing no chance to crouch, he bowed until he was close enough to the boy. _"What's wrong, Yuri?"_

Confused by the grin displayed in Yuri's face, he listened closely to black haired boy's words. _"We will go with you to father's restaurant!"_

* * *

With a soft smile, Yuuri watched the little boy chat animatedly with Phichit as they walked side by side. His friend protectively held Yuri's small hand. Glacing sideways, the glasses wearer saw a wondering smile on Nikolay's face. _"Mr. Nikolay?"_

"Oh?" Nikolay turned to face the young tourist. _"What is it, Mr. Yuuri?"_

At the way too formal calling, timidly Yuuri said. _"Yuuri is fine."_ He rubbed the back of his hand shyly. Being called mister by someone older made the glasses wearer feel like far older than his real age.

Nikolay laughed bemusedly at the response. 'Younglings. Feeling not used to being called Mister.' he thought while correcting himself. _"Yuuri."_

Now that Nikolay's attention was on him, Yuuri went flustered, thinking that he might sound rude for asking something personal. _"Umm...You seem a bit..."_ Yuuri raked his brain to find the right word to describe Nikolay's expression, yet still easy to be understood by a non-English speaker. His hand making unnerving gestures, similar to Yuri's hand motion, made Nikolay chuckle again.

Remembering the word his grandson had uttered a moment ago, he said,. _"Your friend is like Yuri's father. But you look like Yuri."_

Feeling lost and confused by the older man's words, Yuuri's hand stopped moving before he pointed at himself. _"Me?"_

Nikolay laughed again, amused enough that he used his native language again. "Yes, that." Looking ahead to see Yuri was still talking with Phichit, the grandfather raised his hands in front of him, not forgetting to say in English. "Yuratchka, _he...often moves his hands._ "

Yuuri saw Nikolay wave his hands slightly, resembling his grandson's and what he just did. Stretching his lips, Yuuri found himself chuckling at that.

Chuckling along, Nikolay rested his gaze on his beloved grandson. _"Yuratchka is...shy child...He is not close to his friend. It surprise me when he...want to be with you. It never happen before."_

Listening closely to the mumbled sentences, Yuuri held his gaze to the elder before looking at the blond haired boy, who was now, once again, in Phichit's arms. Offering no word, he listened to Nikolay again.

"He must be lonely without his mother." Nikolay said solemnly, yet the young man beside him could understand nothing.

 _"What did you say?"_ Yuuri asked, feeling concerned at the tone of Nikolay's voice.

Shaking his head slowly, Nikolay said. " _Nothing._ Just old man's wishful thinking." He went back to his native language, giving Yuuri no chance to understand. Maybe it was better that way. This man was a stranger and he couldn't burden him with his little family's problem.

Accepting that he would hear no more, Yuuri faced forward again. Watching Yuri and Phichit's interactions with soft gentle smile, the glasses wearing man partly wondered whether what he just heard from Nikolay was right or just the grandfather using the wrong words, because the talkative boy he saw didn't seem to be a shy one. Yuri met his gaze when he first asked him and he continued to do so when they talked. Little Yuri couldn't be a shy child in Yuuri's opinion.

Soon, the four of them stood in front of a homey feeling restaurant little Yuri had led them all to. Wriggling in Phichit's arms, he asked to be put down and then he marched right into the restaurant. With soft smile, all three adults followed the boy inside and they were welcomed by a warm welcoming feeling the restaurant provided. Before them, Yuri was looking around the area, looking for someone.

 _"Ohh! It's them! Yuuri! Phichit! Over here!"_ Both looked to one corner where the rest of their group had gathered. Standing near the group was a tall man with short white hair, who followed the group's attention, turning his head towards the entrance.

"Papa!" Calling out loud, Yuri strode gleefully towards the standing man, who then picked him up with a huge smile adorning his face.

"Yuri!" a smooth deep voice filled the space as high pitched joyful shrieks resonated along with it.

Entranced by the excitement radiating from the two, Yuuri's heart beat faster as his pair of brown eyes traced the attention stealer's scene of affection.

Time seemed to stop around Yuuri, his breath snatched away as enticing clear blue eyes captured his gaze even more, drawing him closer into the clear deep pool of warmth he wanted to be surrounded within.

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 _To be continued_

* * *

After notes: From what I know, the name Yuri in Russia usually only has 1 'u' and thus why whenever Yuri and Nikolay mention Yuuri's name in conversation there is only single 'u' instead of double because they thought the name only has single 'u'. This will change when both noticed their little mistakes.


	3. Introduction

Nothing much to say beside I'm finally able to update this fic...

And just a reminder, conversation in _italic_ is spoken in English..

and actually I changed my writing style a bit.. Usually, I made the flashback using Center for alignment and Italic to differentiate it, but I think I won't do it starting now, I'll just use lines like what I do for time skip and scene changes..

Please tell me if you think otherwise...

For now, please enjoy this chapter.

This story is beta'ed by _ **Pure Red Crane**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 ** _Introduction_**

There, separated by an invisible space, two people who had never had a chance to meet before swam on the delicate surface of new yet familiar intriguing feeling, staring into each other's eyes, connected by unnoticed and unimpeachable emotion. Nervousness multiplied inside Yuuri's dry throat as his dark chocolate gaze melted, mixing with clear blue eyes trying to soar through his defense. Playful electricity bit the tip of his fingers so hard that he clenched his hand into a tight fist to avoid the yelp from breaking out of his mouth. Still not able to look away from the Russian, Yuuri swallowed the emotional lump in his throat, clearing the tightening air way as he tried to refocus himself on the scene.

 _"That's Yuri's father."_ He barely heard Nikolay's word as his thoughts were still occupied by two pairs of contrasting yet mixing so well ocean green and sky blue eyes gazing at him.

 _"It's nice to meet you, Yuri's papa!"_ Phichit earthed him back to reality with his ever excited voice.

As if his mind finally came back to his body, Yuuri moved his legs, trailing slowly behind Phichit and Nikolay's steps. Then, in no time, they had reached the Chef and his son's side in front of the still sitting group, except Mila, who had stood up from her seat to greet them when they walked in, and Georgi, who was standing beside the white haired man.

"Victor, these two are also my fellow skaters." Georgi started with their native language, and then he gestured toward Phichit, who had approached them first, as he change to use English. _"He's Phichit Chulanont from Thailand. He's currently in first place after scoring the highest points in Canada last week and if he gets the high score again, he may secure himself a place in finals."_

 _"Nice to meet you, Yuri's papa!"_ Phichit recited his words again, grinning wide as he offered his hand.

Taking his hand with politeness and respect, Viktor gave it a shake, smiling enthusiastically towards the young Thai man. _"Nice to meet you too. I'm Victor Nikiforov. It seems you have met my son."_

"Papa!" Looking at his only son, Victor let Phichit's hand go. "I met Phichit and Yuri when I was waiting for dedushka."

"Yuri?" Victor called the too familiar name in confusion as he stared questioningly at his adorable son.

"Oh, Yuuri!" Georgi said, dragging the one who was standing behind Phichit to step forward. _"This is Yuuri Katsuki! Japanese. Even though he looks like this, he holds four gold medals. And if he wins this year's competition, he will get his fifth gold medal. He's a great skater who totally pours all of his emotions into his skating!"_

Victor's eyebrow rose when Georgi said 'even though he looks like this.' _"Really?"_ The Russian chef turned to look at the Japanese young man whom got embarrassed at the sudden attention he received. _"Wow. That's amazing."_

"Papa, what did he say?" Little Yuri lost himself between the talk. A look of admiration was sent towards Yuuri once Victor and Georgi explained to the small boy what was said.

 _"Yuri, do you want to watch Yuuri's performance?"_ Phichit asked as he showed his phone, which had a video of certain man skating on the ice. The Thai man slung his arm around Yuuri's shoulder, preventing him from running away and Victor walked towards Phichit and Yuuri, standing close to properly look at the video while holding his excited son. Two pairs of eyes were immersed with every elegant move as Yuuri followed the song's rhythm, leaving traces on the ice's surface.

"This is Yuuri's routine. He always skates to this song to start his training." Georgi informed, also captivated by the passionate choreography. "With this song, Yuuri won his third gold medal." At that information, Victor stole a glance at Yuuri. The Japanese had closed his eyes, probably remembering the time when he skateda and then the chef caught the serene smile on his face.

As the video continued, Victor's eyes often darted back to Yuuri's face, noticing how the other's expression changed as the music prompted something untouchable residing deep inside the Japanese skater to surface, much to the amusement of Victor. Claps and words of compliment ran into the space once the video ended, Victor watched how his son's face lit up like St. Basil's Cathedral at night and how Yuuri blushed under the praises.

"That's cool!" Yuri said excitedly, his blue eyes widened when he looked back and forth between the Yuuri in the video and the Yuuri in front of him. Turning to his father, the young boy pleaded. "Papa! I want to do that too! Like Yuri! I want to skate on ice!"

"Hoho! That's nice idea!" Georgi said with a laugh when the boy's father went speechless at the sudden remark. "Let him do that, Victor. Your son might become a good skater one day."

Not sure how to respond to Yuri and Georgi, Victor turned toward Nikolay, who shrugged his shoulders letting him to decide it by himself. Looking back at Yuri, he asked. "Do you really want to do it?"

The small boy nodded furiously, his eyes sparkled with determination. "I want to be like Yuri!"

* * *

 _"I want to be like Yuri!"_

The words echoed through his days in Russia, and even when he had come back to Japan, Yuuri couldn't shake off the claim of one boy, even when he skated to _Bara no You ni Saite, Sakura no You ni Chitte._ The happy bubbly feeling of being looked up to and idolized still managed to shake off the desperation in his choice of song.

Standing still in the middle of the skate rink, Yuuri glanced around the almost empty, cold expanse as if looking for something he didn't know.

"Yuuri?" The light voice of woman cut his searching to a stop. He looked back at the person standing across from him outside the rink.

Skating his way to her, he asked. "What is it, Minako-sensei?"

Minako was his lifetime friend, teacher and also his coach. The older woman had taught him a lot of ballet during his childhood and she even went as far as to accompany him into skating and helped him with beautiful choreography throughout his career as a figure skater, even though she had never skated before.

"What's occupying your mind?" She observed as soon as Yuuri stood in front of her. "You didn't make any mistakes, but your performance is lacking feeling." Minako said, referring to how Yuuri had skated in Russia. He still scored high with all those elegant jumps and spins, yet what he performed that evening was very dull to Minako's eyes.

When Yuuri didn't reply, Minako guessed. "Is it about that Yuri kid?"

Biting his lip at the guess, Yuuri nodded stiffly. "Well, something like that."

* * *

After lunch, the group went to the ice rink Georgi always practiced on. Victor had given out the approval as soon as Phichit and Georgi convinced him that letting the boy try some sports would help the boy have more experiences. And his coach, Yakov, even let them bring Yuri, Nikolay and the rest of group go so long as, in return, Yuuri did a little performance.

 _"Yuri, how old are you?"_ Guang Hong asked as the group walked down the icy road of Moscow to the Sport Champions Club, the Russian skaters' practice rink. The Chinese skater bent his waist a little so his shy voice could reach the boy. Turning his face to look back at the other, Yuri pondered for a while. He looked at his right hand, which was holding Yuuri's, then to his free left hand. Twisting a bit, he reached his left hand out over his right arm, palm facing Guang Hong.

 _"Ten."_ he answered while grinning, seemly proud of his age. He wasn't a little kid anymore.

Sara, who was walking beside the younger skater, squealed softly at the adorable sight in front of her. She grabbed the Chinese man's arm and tugged at it excitedly. _"Aww~~ Look, Guang Hong! Isn't he so cute?"_

Pained whine slipped from the owner of said arm she grabbed. _"Sara...It's hurts..."_

 _"Sara! You can hold onto my arm!"_ Her older brother hurriedly claimed with wide shocked eyes as he offered his arm to his younger sister.

As both Sara and Guang Hong looked at Mike with a questioning glance. Yuri stared at them, confused about what they were talking about, before he turned his attention to Georgi and a woman with shoulder length hair, Mila, who helped explain everything about figure skating to his _dedushka_. He then turned to Yuuri, who was discussing something he couldn't understand with Phichit. Glancing back behind him, the other skaters also seemed to fall back into their own set of conversations which the little boy lacked the knowledge of, yet the excited anticipating look on most of their faces did speak the high expectations of something bound to happen.

Soon, the grand practice rink was flooded by the professionals figure skaters from different parts of the world, chants of whispered awe and murmurs of wonder filled the area with little tension as the young trainers focused on the guests and their coach, who approached the group rather calmly as if expecting their arrival.

 _"Welcome to Sport Champions Club."_ the short man, who didn't seem older than his _dedushka_ , greeted them. Yuri hid away behind Yuuri's legs. He extended his hand out to Yuuri, who immediately took the hand and gave the other a small yet firm shake.

 _"It's been a while, Mr. Feltsman."_ Yuuri greeted politely with an equally polite smile sincerely.

Letting the professional's skater's hand go, the elder coach returned the smile before moving on to the next subject, glancing at Georgi, who was still talking with Nikolay. _"I've heard from Georgi that you want to introduce figure skating to someone. Is he the boy my athlete is talking about?"_

When Yakov pointed at someone behind him, Yuuri turned and placed his hand on Yuri's head, patting the blond hair gently as he ushered the boy to move forward. _"I'm sorry for the sudden turn of events."_ he said, which soon denied by Yakov, who said that it was Georgi's fault to suggest and force it in the first place. _"And yes, this is Yuri. He's a bit interested in figure skating after...watching my old video."_

Holding onto Yuuri's larger hand, the little boy looked up at Yakov, a bit scared of the calculating stare the older man threw on him.

 _"Thank you for letting us come here on such short notice and let us use the rink."_ the Japanese man's voice stole the Russian coach's attention from the nervous boy.

The contemplative smile was back on Yakov's face. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. Staring up at Yuuri, he responded. _"It's nothing when I can ask the four years champion skater to perform in front of my students, and in my rink nonetheless."_ When Yuuri blushed a bit at the compliment, Yakov barked orders to his students standing near him.

"Mila, Get the boy a pair of skates! Georgi, Stop explaining things to the boy's grandfather! This boy is the one who will be skating, not his grandfather!" he said strictly, narrowing his gaze on the male skater, who flinched under his stare.

"Oh, yes! Okay!" Georgi stuttered as he moved towards Yuri and told the boy to follow him and Mila, before dragging the unsuspecting Thai man along.

 _"Eh? Why do I have to go with you?"_ Phichit whined.

 _"You're one of the reasons we're here, so be responsible."_

"Eeehh?"

Watching the young skaters scatter away, Yakov sent out another order to his nearest student to prepare a pair of skating shoes for Yuuri before moving towards Nikolay. After telling one of the trainers about his shoe size, Yuuri walked to the nearest bench where he put down his coat and bags. He did a few stretches his body needed before stepping into the ice rink.

 _"This was just supposed to be a small outing, to have lunch together..."_ Guang Hong said. _"I didn't think we would end up here."_

Chuckling softly at the younger's words, Yuuri couldn't help but agree. He was only accompanying a little boy back then, and now he was being looked up to by said boy, who stated that he wanted to be like him. Not to mention the performance he was asked to do because Phichit's and Georgi's overexcitement. _"Same here."_ he said while bending at his hips to touch the tip of his shoes and the floor. _"But this doesn't sound so bad. I can unwind some tension before tomorrow's warm up schedule."_

Joining his small laugh with the others, Guang Hong looked around, suddenly feeling nervous under the curious gazes the trainers were shooting at them. _"Haha...that's good I guess."_

Dumbfounded, Yuri looked around the vast club, watching people from varied ages seem to blend together, all of them having discussions with each other about skating. He watched a child probably around his age skate smoothly above the ice while what seemed to be the child's coach shouted encouragement and also some scolds.

"Yuri?" Georgi called as he and Mila brought a pair of skating shoes.

Turning around, Yuri stared in awe at the black colored special shaped shoes. Listening intently to the older's explanation about how to wear the shoes and not accidentally hurting himself, the boy seemed eager to wear them until Georgi held the pair away. "What do you have to do before exercising?"

Staring at Georgi, Yuri recalled his lesson in school to answer the question. "Warm-up so you won't hurt your body." he said diligently before catching up to what Georgi meant with it. "Should I do it here?"

Seemingly satisfied, the Russian male skater beamed at the boy proudly. "You can do it near the rink, but there are lot of people crowding, so I guess here is better. Phichit will show you the necessary stretches. Try to copy him as best as you can."

Several minutes were spent to prepare Yuri's muscles for the new sport. They got so immersed in it and laughed when Georgi failed one of the stretches when he was too focused on his explanation of how to skate properly. Their attention was soon stolen by the loud cheer from the crowd of people surrounding one of the rinks.

"Oh! Is it starting already?" Phichit asked. He and Mila jumped to their full height before running toward the rink, leaving Georgi shouting at their back. Then, Yuri, out of his never ending curiosity, followed after the two excited skaters, taking advantage of his small body, leaving Phichit and Mila to struggle a bit to get in front. The blond haired boy asked. "What's going on?"

A girl older than him replied enthusiastically without looking at him. "Yuuri Katsuki will do a performance here."

After saying that, more conversations sprung up among the expectants.

"What song will he skate to?"

"Isn't it that the Japanese song he uses for his free skate?"

"Will he?"

"Don't you think that he might skate to his original song?"

"Oh! His routine? That sounds about right."

"Ssssh! He's about to start." Glancing back at the Japanese, Yuri saw that the older man stood still in the middle of the rink with his eyes closed.

"Hey…isn't it that?" a small whisper asked from above Yuri's head.

"Yeah. That posture...Must be Agape."

As if on cue, once the title slipped out, the music and singing started to flow into everyone's hearing and filled the large room with its calm soft beauty as Yuuri moved lightly on the ice.

.

.

.

to be continued~

* * *

The song _'Bara no You ni Saite, Sakura no You ni Chitte'_ is composed by YOSHIKI and sung by Matsuda Seiko. Is also used as soundtrack for _'Seisei Suruhodo, Aishiteiru'_ (Love Catharsis).

This is a good song about loving someone and let the loved person go. Basically, the main focus of this song is how beautiful Love is despite what occurred in its journey, just as described by the title itself: "Like a rose blooming, like cherry blossom falling" Love blooms beautifully like a rose, and when Love falls (ends) it's still as beautiful as the shower of sakura petals which end its (sakura flowers) time-limited life.


End file.
